- Hey, what's up guys.
Welcome back to Chemical Guys Detail Garage.
Today, we are back with the beater
and we notice its headlights are fairly gone.
They're dull, they're neglected.
So in this video,
I'll be showing us how to properly wet sand them.
So let's get to it.
(chiming)
So to begin the process,
we need to start by cleaning them off.
Even though I already cleaned them,
I'm just going to use Clay Luber as a lubricant,
just to wipe them off.
So just spray it on there and then I'll grab a soft
microfiber towel and just wipe them in one direction.
This is just so I can make sure
any loose grime or debris can just remove,
so I won't be rubbing it in whenever I'm clean.
So clean it.
Now it's clean.
So a car, in fact, there's you drive a beater.
You don't care about it.
And over time, your headlights can possibly turn dull.
They don't shine as much,
or you can't even have any light going out of it.
And we always recommend having the best visibility during
the daytime or nighttime or wherever you might be,
have the best vision.
So before anything,
you always need to clay the headlights before wet sanding.
So I'll be using the Medium Duty Clay Bar.
So the Medium Duty Clay Bar is going to help me remove any
contamination that is in the pores of the headlight.
Why should I re-clay before
even though I'm going to wet sand?
I recommend, you guys, claying the headlight beforehand,
because if you do not clay,
you're going to be rubbing in all the contamination,
back into the headlight,
which can potentially scratch it and damage it even more.
So I just ripped off a small portion.
Now I'll roll into a little ball
and once it's into little ball,
you just want to squeeze it down,
either into a pancake method or a hotcake,
whatever you may call it, make sure to comment down below,
let me know what you guys call it.
'cause I call it a pancake.
So now it's at a pancake form.
It's a perfect three finger width,
if you have never worked with clay bar,
it's a very sticky substance.
So it does not fall.
Three fingers.
I like to go that way because I have more control in hand.
And then I'll be using Clay Luber.
Clay Luber is going to help me lube up the surface
so whenever I glide the clay bar over this area,
it glides over perfectly.
And I am not causing marring because yes you could cause
clay marring on headlights.
So just go to the surface and you guys can hear.
I'll be quiet.
(scratching sounds)
All of that graspiness is just the contamination that's
sitting on the headlight.
And yes, most people will say,
"why would you even clay bar?
Why would he restore the headlights if it's just a beater?"
But keep in mind,
you might have someone in the car,
or even yourself,
and you want to stay safe at all times, see.
Seeing perfect is the best
because I've driven around with hazy headlights,
and honestly, whenever you go into a very dark area,
it can be very, very hard to see.
So that's why we recommend restoring your headlights.
So I flip it back over.
You can see there's a little bit of contamination on it
and we just want to ensure
we get a perfect smooth to the touch finish.
So after that, I'll remold it into a new area,
back into a ball and then I'll redo it until the surface
turns smooth to a touch.
So get my clay, spray again,
and whenever you're using a Clay Luber,
don't be stingy with it because if you are stingy with it,
like I said, if you go over a dry area,
you can potentially cause clay warring
and you could permanently damage your headlight.
Same goes on paint.
On paint, they'll just
and have to re-polish it out.
And that's an extra step in the detailing process that you
can technically avoid if you do it properly.
So put the clay bar down,
I'll put it back in its package for our next user to use it.
A clay bar can be used up to 10 times, up to 20 times
and we probably use it by cutting it up into small portions.
Don't use the biggest clay bar whenever you're using it,
use a small portion of it just in case if you drop it,
pick it back up and you can reuse it.
So now the clay did its job.
The headlights are smooth.
We're going to be moving on to the wet sanding process.
So what is the wet sanding process?
A wet sanding process is sandpaper mixed with water.
Yes, that is correct.
So right here I have my 2,500 grit.
One of my pink flex pad,
it has a sticky back so I can just attach it to the back.
Just like so.
Attach it on there.
And then why would he do the wet sanding process?
So the wet sand process works amazing on headlights
that are fairly far gone.
If for example, you use our headlight,
restore it and it does not bring it back.
Then you might need to do the wet sanding process.
This is why I am doing the wet sand process on this
Toyota Corolla because we did a test spot and it did not do
anything to it.
So I have my sand paper ready,
have my water, my secondary sprayer bottle.
(spraying water)
All I have to do is just spray it on here,
(scratching)
and just glide it over the headlight.
And you'll start seeing this milkiness come out.
All of that is just dead plastic.
Look at that.
You got to keep it very lubricated, same exact thing.
You do not want to have a dry spot
whenever you're doing a headlight restoration.
So the 2,500 grit is going to help me remove all the dead
plastic that is sitting on the headlight
without damaging it.
So just scrub back and forth.
And now I'll get my microfiber towel
and I'll wipe off in one direction
just to inspect the headlight.
Always whenever you're doing a headlight restoration
constantly go back and inspect it.
Make sure it's smooth.
Like right here, it's still rough.
I need to do a second pass,
versus over here it's completely smooth.
So I'll get my water and just scrub it out.
And then after you finish doing the wet sanding process
with the 2,500 grit,
if I wipe it down, it's going to turn very, very hazy,
but don't be freaking out
because that is the process to get a clear vision,
so look at that.
It's going to haze up on me,
but that is just because I just sanded those areas.
Whenever I polish it,
I'll be refining the finish and bringing back it's shine.
So now we have to refine the sandy marks.
This is when we get rid of our 2,500 grit
and we move on to the 3,500 grit.
The 3,500 grit goes on the same exact way as a sticky back.
You just line it up perfectly.
We're good to go.
So now I get my water.
(water spraying) Salt spray down the area.
Spray my sanding block,
and I'll just do the same exact thing all over.
So this is going to refine any of the other scratches that
the sandpaper might've done.
It's going to help me remove them,
it's going to help me restore them.
So doing the proper steps when doing a headlight restoration
is going to ensure you get a perfect finish at the end,
excuse if it's loud or people are passing by.
It is very busy here at the Detail Garage.
So just bear with me.
So just go back and forth,
make sure you hit every corner.
(water spraying)
The benefits of having a headlight restoration kit is you
can restore your headlights multiple times.
You're not going to have to be spending thousands of dollars
or hundreds of dollars on headlights
that can simply be restored.
So wipe in one direction and you already see the headlight
is already coming back from how it started.
When I started,
it was a little bit, much yellow, but now I inspected it.
Let me just wipe it down.
I need to make sure that everything's good to go.
So now I realize it's completely good to go.
It's time to polish it.
So today I'll be using the TORQ R.
The TORQ R is a rotary that has a three inch backing plate
with a four inch pad.
So I'll shake up headlight restore because headlight restore
is going to be the polish I'll be using today.
I'll apply four dots onto my pad.
One, two, three, four.
So now that I already have four dots on my pad,
I'll get my pad conditioner and spray it onto my pad.
What is pad conditioner?
Pad conditioner is going to help me moisten the pad.
So I won't cause any friction or pigtails on the headlight.
So before I start polishing,
I'll put the cord over my shoulders,
so I won't be hitting the paint with the cord.
I'll go to the area,
I'll dab it out
and then I'll work it in on the highest speed.
So I'll make sure it's completely spread out.
And if you do not have a polisher,
make sure to just get a drill attachment,
hop on our website,
pick up a drill attachment bagging plate
and the drill screw, and you'll be set.
So now, since it is a rotary,
I do not turn on the machine
when it's already on the headlight,
I'll turn it on away from the headlight,
then I'll go onto it. So let's get to it.
Wow. That is a big before and after.
I mean it's clear.
I can see the light bulb.
That's pretty funny.
I can see the light bulb.
So guys, let me finish up this headlight
and I'll get back to you guys
once I already have everything done.
And wow, there's a huge before and after
from before I had this Corolla,
this Corolla's headlights were yellow, grimy.
I couldn't even see the light bulb in it.
And now that I did the wet sanding process
and I polished it out using headlight restore,
I can actually see through the headlight
and I wonder how the visibility is going to be at night.
I'm pretty sure it's going to be much better.
These headlights were dull, neglected
and I brought them back using the wet sanding method.
I saved hundreds of dollars and they look amazing,
especially 'cause it's on a beater car
and don't forget guys,
headlight restore actually has a sealant in it.
So if you do not have a sealant on hand,
that is completely fine because headlight restore
is a polish with a sealant that will protect your
headlights from yellowing over time.
Guys, if you guys liked this video,
don't forget to check out the links down below
where we link every single product we use on this video.
So you can never be lost
and comment down below future videos you want to see.
And we'll see you guys next time,
right here at the Chemical Guys Detail Garage.
Whoosh. Look at that. Look at that.
You see that?
(upbeat music)